NCJ Number
208403
Journal
Journal of Quantitative Criminology Volume: 20 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2004 Pages: 371-393
Date Published
December 2004
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study merged two theoretical perspectives to examine how perceived emotional arousal and sanction threats influence violent criminal behavior.
Abstract
Two main lines of research have helped criminologists understand offender decisionmaking: deterrence/rational choice perspectives and situation/emotional perspectives. The current study strives to gain a more complete understanding of criminal decisionmaking by merging these two perspectives in order to examine how rational choice considerations and perceptions of angry reactions inter-related to predict violent behavior. Participants were 382 randomly selected undergraduates who completed a survey questionnaire containing hypothetical vignettes designed to measure behavioral intentions to commit the crime of assault. Three hypotheses were examined: (1) that rational choice and perceived anger would produce additive effects on assault; (2) that perceived anger would influence how rational choice considerations are interpreted; and (3) that rational choice considerations would influence assault under different levels of perceived anger and that the effect of sanction threat would be muted under higher perceived anger. Results indicate that perceived anger is a critical factor in criminal decisionmaking and that it influences how rational choice considerations are interpreted by potential offenders. Since the role of human emotions in criminal decisionmaking appears to be prominent, future research should attempt to apply the role of emotions to Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) general theory of crime. Tables, references